Microsoft have secured a deal with the world's largest PC manufacturer to have Live Search installed as the default search engine on all Hewlett Packard PCs in the US and Canada.The agreement will take effect from January 2009 and will replace the existing agreement that HP has with Yahoo!. Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platform and services division said in a statement that "This is the most significant distribution deal for Live Search that Microsoft has ever done". The deal will also see a Live Search toolbar installed on all copies of Internet Explorer on HP PCs, which will contain links to HP's online services, including its photo service Snapfish.
This latest development in the Live Search camp is another attempt from Microsoft to edge closer towards search engine rivals Google and Yahoo!. Having recently failed in their attempt to acquire Yahoo! in February, there then followed rumours that Microsoft had approached Facebook with an offer. Then last month Microsoft revealed plans for a cashback system for Live Search. However Microsoft still has a long way to go if it wants to even get close to its rivals, with Google currently getting around 10 times more traffic than Live Search. Also, recent comScore figures reveal that Google handled 62% of all US search queries in April, with Yahoo! taking 20% and Microsoft just 9%.
Google currently has a similar agreement with HPs top PC rival Dell, with Google installed as the default search engine on Dell PCs and also Mozilla's Firefox web browser. The current agreement with Dell expires in 2009 and it is unclear whether or not this will be renewed, with Dell stating that they are open to alternative partnerships.
